Actually, I won't start building this model for several weeks; however, I am currently in the process of lofting the frames for a POF model. The model is based on a pamphlet written in 1961 by Howard I. Chapelle entitled "The Pioneer Steamship SAVANNAH: A Study for a Scale Model." (A review appears in the Books forum.)

I am currently building a scale model of an operating Dutch windmill, and after that is finished, I will be building a 5-foot long scale model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton for one of my grandsons. When these two items are finished -- perhaps 6-7 weeks -- I will begin building the Savannah. I have not abandoned ship modeling, although it may seem that way.

HISTORY

SS Savannah was an American hybrid sailing ship/sidewheel steamer built in 1818. It is notable for being the first steamship in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean, a risk that was accomplished from May to June 1819, although only a fraction of the distance was covered with the ship under steam power. The rest was sailed by wind power. In spite of her historic voyage, Savannah was not a commercial success as a steamship and was converted back into a sailing ship shortly after returning from Europe.

Savannah was wrecked off Long Island in 1821. No other American-owned steamship would cross the Atlantic for almost thirty years after Savannah's pioneering voyage. Two British sidewheel steamships, Brunel's SS Great Western and Menzies' SS Sirius, raced to New York in 1838, both voyages being made under steam power alone.

The 320-ton vessel was built by Fickett & Crocker in Savannah, Georgia, for a cost of $50,000. She was 98 feet long, had a beam of 25 feet and a draft of 14 feet.

Note that this vessel will celebrate its bi-centennial anniversary in less than 4 years.

Jantje, The windmill is in about 1:48 scale. No, it's not a kit. However, I did download the instruction manual for the Amati kit and used it as my general guide for making all the parts. When the blades and sails are finally built and installed, the windmill will operate in the wind, turning the five interior gears that grind the wheat. It's far from finished, but here are a couple of photos on the in-progress build.

The first step in the SS Savannah build is to loft frames, since the plans were apparently developed for a POB model. Therefore, using the room-and-space method for locating frames, I plotted the location of all square and cant frames on the plans, which were first enlarged on a Brava Reader program. There will be 34 square frames and 16 cant frames, which are then drawn individually.

After lofting all the square frames, I built the keel assembly and the building jig. The keel assembly consists of ¼” basswood, including the keel itself, the stem and sternpost, and the deadwood. A 1/16” rabbet was cut into the keel assembly to accept planking. The jig consists of Masonite for the main jig piece, and scrap pieces of wood for the remainder. Since I have a difficult time cutting frame notches into Masonite, I used ¼”-square pieces of basswood glued at ¼” intervals for all square frames. This is basically an experiment that will be dismantled when the frames are completed; otherwise, I don’t think I can remove the frames from the jig. Each square frame consists of 8 pieces of 1/8” basswood that make up each double frame – 3 pieces in one part frame and 8 pieces in the second part frame. All frame pieces were joined together with simple butt joints. The double frames were glued together with Elmer’s Glue. No trenails were employed, mainly because more of the frames will be unseen in the finished model. I realize that I used an insufficient number of futtocks in the frames; however, since most will not be seen in the final model, I decided to take a few short cuts. The first two pictures below show the status of the model to date. The remaining pictures show the steps I used to construct each frame.

Its really great to have you back in the ship yard. I like your use of the frame spacers on your jig. I switched to these on my Eagle and found that they offered better support when sanding and more accurate spacing than what I could notch out. Not to mention, they are faster to make. Looking forward to the next installment. G

The square frames have been completed, and the keelson has been doweled to each of the frames almost, but not quite, through the keel Once the frames were sanded smooth in the areas where deck clamps will rest, I installed the clamps. A second layer on the clamps will be installed later, making them 1/8" thick.

At this point, the structures can be removed from the jig, but I will not do so until cant frames, the rest of the deck clamps, and the stringers are installed.